WASHINGTON (AP) - Tom Izzo was relieved his Michigan State team escaped with
a 66-60 victory over George Mason on Sunday in the consolation game of the BB&T
Classic.

"I'll be honest with you, it was a hard game to play in for us," said the
coach of the 11th-ranked Spartans, who snapped a two-game losing streak. "I
think we had looked forward to hopefully getting a shot at Maryland in the
championship game. When you come to a tournament like this as a ranked team,
you don't want to play in the consolation game.

"I don't look at our lack of beating them by more than that as the end of
the world. Number one I give credit to them and number two I understand how
hard it is to play in a consolation game."

George Mason was facing a ranked opponent for the second consecutive game
and the third time this season, both firsts in school history. The Patriots
lost 78-54 to No. 12 Maryland in the opening round at the MCI Center.

"The next time we probably play a team of that national caliber it would be
in the NCAA tournament," George Mason coach Jim Larranaga said. "That's
ultimately our goal."

Butler scored 11 of the first 15 points in the second half for the Patriots,
who trailed by nine points with 14:58 to go.

Lewis' inside basket with 9:26 left got George Mason within 51-49, but Lewis
missed the free throw to convert a three-point play. John Vaughn's fast-break
basket cut the Spartans' lead to 56-55 with 4:59 remaining.

Davis and Anderson scored to make it 62-57 before Vaughn converted a 3 from
the left corner with 23 seconds left, pulling the Patriots within four points.

"We should've put them away early," Davis said. "I think we were up by
15. Against athletic, quick teams like this in a tournament like this, we have
to put teams away when we get up on top. It was the story of last year and it's
starting to come back."